The Perfect Storm

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. But after my sister-in-law called to ask if I was still alive since I hadn't blogged, and this is how she keeps up on my life, I thought I'd pull a late-nighter and catch up.

In February, we had already planned to take the kids out of school for a vacation to Massanutten. Then Mother Nature stepped in and dumped an unbelievable amount of snow on us the day before we were to leave. We already had the condo paid for, so Chris was determined to get us out of town. He shoveled like crazy to get our car out. So as many of my friends were stuck in their house, we thankfully made it to Virginia. We were very lucky, because instead of missing a week of school, the kids missed zero days since school was cancelled the whole week we were gone -- yay! And I wasn't stuck in the house trying to entertain them that whole time -- double yay! I still can't believe how much snow Chris had to shovel just to make a path to the car. Then he still had to get the car out from under a ton of snow. Sophia was his best helper!

This was my second attempt at skiing and it went so much better than last year! This year there was actually real, soft snow to ski on, which helped slow me down. Plus I had a different instructor this year, who I loved. He was young, patient, didn't rush me and he taught me how to stop.

The kids went right back on the slopes like pros. It's crazy how fast they go. Chris would take Alec and Sophia night skiing and they'd be the last ones off the slopes. Meanwhile, Selena and I were back at the condo staying warm and eating while watching TV. Sophia and Alec even went down the Diamond runs. Now, to me they looked totally steep, but I'm told our Diamond runs in the east are actually bunny slopes compared to west coast skiing, so I think I'll stick to the east.

Our condo was amazing. It even had a sauna in it. I'd never been in a sauna before and I just don't get the appeal. Chris loved it. He'd ask me to join him. And when I'd go in the little room, it reminded me of growing up in the desert where it would get over 100 degrees and you'd feel so hot and miserable. I told him I could go back to Barstow and get the same hot feeling for free!

We also went to the indoor water park again and that was a bit scary since it was February and my body had not seen the sun or a razor in quite some time. But since we were in Virginia, I wasn't the whitest body walking around by any means. (Thank you, mom, for those Mexican genes!)

They had a wave pool where you could try to surf and body board. Chris, Alec and Sophia actually did it. It was so fun to watch, but also painful to see people wipeout. We saw way too many white bottoms as the rushing water pulled down the swimmers swimming trunks.

As we drove home, we took a tour of a cave, which was amazing. We had the best tour guide who made everything in the cave seem more exciting. He said they even perform weddings in the caverns. Really? I don't know that I'd want to pay thousands of dollars for a dress and then walk around in a cave that drips water all over you, but it is pretty down there.

Thanks to this vacation, the storm of 2010 will be a fun memory for us. And it's the time where Chris' arms got the best workout ever from being the king of snow shoveling!